The Centre for Technology & Development, or CTD as we are popularly known, is a Division of the Society for Economic & Social Studies (SESS), an independent non-profit organisation working in the field of sustainable rural development with special focus on pro-poor livelihoods through Science & Technology innovation and participatory action research. CTD/SESS is a multi-disciplinary group of dedicated and experienced professionals with backgrounds in engineering, natural and applied sciences, medicine and social sciences.
Headquartered in Delhi, main field operations of CTD are in Uttarakhand with a Field Station at Sahaspur, Dehradun District, and activities in several parts of the Garhwal region of the State. CTD also works closely with like-minded partner NGOs in around 25 States/UTs in India.
Vision
CTD/SESS believes that rural industrialization is essential in India due to its high rural population which is expected to stay above 50% even by 2050 and which will require non-farm rural job-creation given declining agricultural employment and jobless growth in the urban-industrial sector. S&T inputs will enable focus on the poorly-developed manufacturing sector and requisite creation or upgradation of skills, particularly among small farmers, artisans and agricultural workers, notably including women, who are the natural carriers of related indigenous knowledge.
Mission
CTD/SESS works towards S&T-based sustainable rural industrialization for value-addition to rural produce, generation of local employment and new/upgraded skills, and strengthening of the local economy.
Appropriate technology packages and enterprise models for sustainable pro-poor Rural Enterprises and local value addition to rural produce for benefit of the rural economy and underprivileged sections.
CTD/SESS plans and executes its action research programmes by technology sector, and hence has a pan-India scope in different relevant agro-climatic regions, where it works through local NGO partners. Its own field operations are focused on 4 Districts of Uttarakhand namely Dehradun (including the Jaunsar-Bavar tribal belt of Chakrata), Pauri, Uttarkashi and Chamoli.